


I Got You

by BlueOranges



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Army and Skull both have a good sense of hearing, Army is smol, Army you should give Mask his shirt back, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Crying, Cuddles, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Skull has to carry too much :(, Skull keeping your feelings to yourself isnt okay :(, Spooning, being smol makes Army insecure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27000814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueOranges/pseuds/BlueOranges
Summary: Army hears Skull crying one night and goes to find out the reason why.
Relationships: Aloha/Army/Mask/Skull (Splatoon), Army/Skull (Splatoon)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	I Got You

**Author's Note:**

> Today, I present Army x Skull because this is over a week old and I wanted to project onto both Skull and Army >:T
> 
> We could play guess what I self projected onto each character oh my cod-
> 
> I haven't wrote a fanfic this long since May, be grateful (jk i know my writing can be bad sometimes lolol ya'll deserve this uwu)

Skull often bottled everything up inside.

He didn’t like showing vulnerability in front of others. He was like a pillar in which everyone looked up to, and if he fell then everyone would. Skull knew this, and waited until he was behind closed doors to release silent tears, learning to keep quiet to not worry anyone who could hear. The purple inkling would often just sit at the edge of his bed while the tears ran down his face, eventually creating a waterfall. 

His ears were sensitive, like Army’s, but only when he was awake. On most nights, he would stay awake, and be forced to listen to either one or two certain inklings in the night. They would be crying usually, whispering things to themselves that weren’t true. Skull would feel the guilt of doing nothing stab at his heart, but he didn’t want to hurt either one of the inklings’ pride. 

So he never helped. 

Tonight was his turn to cry. It was raining, so even if he accidentally let out a noise the rain would mask it. The e-liter main was growing tired of not being able to help, not being able to show any emotions other than neutrality or the occasional happiness when around his partners. Since when did he have to obtain this role? Because he was the strongest amongst everyone? Newsflash, so was Emperor, Vintage, and Goggles. Despite this, Skull was the one that was chosen to carry this burden. He hated this.

Skull stared at his ceiling, it was rather boring to look at. Aloha had a variety of stickers, Mask had glow planets and stars, and Army had painted plants. Skull was the only one who had a plain ceiling. It was what he was used to anyway. A simple room with just a dresser, a desk he never used, and his bed. How he still got his room messy even though he had minimal clothing and items was beyond Army’s comprehension. Skull’s been trying his best though, after all he didn’t want Army to clean up his and the other two’s messes. 

Sighing, Skull turned over his pillow, the new side being dried from its previous treatment. It didn’t really matter since it was going to be wet again anyways. Taking a piece of tissue from the box he stole from the living room, Skull blew his nose. Thankfully, it wasn’t a loud sound. Putting the tissue aside, the purple inkling turned to the window. The rain hitting the glass was calming, and the music drifting from Army’s room was adding to it. Skull pet the blanket that was under him, the texture providing some form of serotonin to help with the imbalance of chemicals in his brain.

Skull’s ear twitched as he heard the door down the hall open. Army’s. The purple inkling panicked, quickly gathering all the used tissues on his bed and tossing them in his trashcan before going under the covers. He held his breath as Army stopped in front of his door. He really hoped Army couldn’t hear him.

_Knock Knock_

The door creaked open causing Skull to shut his eyes. This was it, he was done for.

“Skull? Are you awake?”

It was a regular night for Army, throwing on Mask’s crusty Sean XXL shirt that _conveniently_ got into his laundry and squid force running shorts before tucking himself under the covers. He let out a soft groan as he remembered his music as he heard a noise from down the street. Convincing himself it was Little Judd being well… himself, Army turned on the mini Bluetooth speaker Aloha had gotten him. He tuned it into a radio station that specifically played Lo-fi before falling asleep. At least, that’s what would have happened if the rain didn’t interrupt. Army put his hands over his face and internally groaned at the disturbance. Curse his overly sensitive ears.

An hour passed and Army had fully given up on sleep. He’d have to wait for the rain to stop. Army silently threatened to go for the great zapfish’s kneecaps when he died. It wasn’t so bad, the rain was getting to a speed where it was more calming instead of noisy and it was rather rhythmic. Though there was something that wasn’t part of the natural sound of the rain. Army strained his ears a bit, trying to figure out what the sound was. 

Crying. Carp.

A wave of worry came over Army as he got out of bed. He wasn’t exactly prepared for this since he didn’t have a manual to combat this, only some knowledge on this sort of thing from Forge. Oh, how Army wished he grew up with empathy instead of barely learning when he left his parents. Finding himself in the hallway, he heard the crying die down. Quickly following the dampening sounds, the orange inkling stood in front of Skull’s room. Gathering all his courage, he knocked. 

_Knock Knock_

“Skull? Are you awake?”

Army peeked in through the doorway and heard Skull’s nasally breathing. ‘12 - 20 breaths per minute’, Army thought to himself as he counted both the breaths Skull was taking and the seconds that passed. To make the observation less creepy, Army walked over to the bed and sat down. His ear twitched as he caught the tiny hitch of breath Skull quietly let out. His breathing increased. Definitely awake.

“I know you’re awake, Skull.”

Said inkling cursed under his breath. The purple inkling grunted in response, still trying to front his stoic act. He could practically hear the other’s eyebrow twitch in annoyance, though neither of them spoke. It was just two inklings listening to the rain in the dark. One of them trying to figure out how to approach the situation, and the other wanting to avoid it as much as possible.

“Want to talk about it?”

“...”

Skull heard the other huff, before he felt him get up. To Skull’s dismay, instead of leaving, the other surveyed his room. Curse Army and his desire to understand, though Skull couldn’t be mad at the orange inkling for long, he only wanted to help. Skull avoided the piercing gaze as the Army picked up the tissues that were scattered on the side of his bed.

“Missed a few in your hurry to throw them away.”

“Is it against the law to make a mess in my own room?”

Skull heard the other tense up, obviously not used to the shakiness of Skull’s voice. The sound of Army shaking his head cut it’s way through the air as the runaway tissues were dropped in the bin. The blaze got into bed with Skull, indicating that he was staying for the night. Skull just hoped he could keep himself together so the other wouldn’t see his vulnerable side.

“You’re obviously distraught about something, explain it.”

“Don’t really want to.”

“Don’t really want to.”

Army quietly sighed, he expected this. He had a few reasons as to why Skull could be crying. He knew that everyone in this house had shown their vulnerabilities at night, well except for himself. For the most part Army openly expressed his emotions as part of the empathy plan Forge had created for him in his very first manual years ago. Now that he thought about it, he had to create a plan in order to stop- no Army. Not battle strategies now. 

“How about this, if I get a reason for this correct, will you tell me?”

Army got another grunt, of approval of course.

“Alright,” The orange inkling tapped his chin lightly, ”Is it because Mask stole all your candy for himself?”

“No,”

“Hm… Does it have to do with Mask and Aloha crying at night?”

Skull’s body tensed next to him, he was getting closer.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Now, with my observations over the course of Team Blue’s first arrival, everyone has been looking towards you as our strongest player. While I’m still approached for battle strategies, you’re approached for more… complex advice. I’ve never once seen you cry, not in the five years we’ve known one another. Putting all this together, you’ve become a sort of rock… a rock that holds all the gang together, and you’re scared and tired of being this rock. You feel as if one negative emotion from you is enough to make everyone fall. Am I correct?”

Army awaited an answer. His ear twitched for what felt like the twentieth time that night. He turned his head and saw Skull’s body shaking with some paused intervals as if he was trying to stop himself. Army’s ears drooped. Carp, he didn’t mean to make Skull cry again. The orange inkling hit the nail on the head too hard. He wasn’t too sure of what to do, so of course Army spooned the other. 

“Shhh… I’m sorry, Skull, I didn’t mean to make you cry again…”

Army awkwardly held the Skull close to him. He never really liked being the big spoon, especially since his partners were all taller than him. Well, that was a lie. He always wanted to be the big spoon, but… he just felt too short and thinking about it made him extremely self-conscious. Oh well, this was a matter to be discussed with Forge at a later time. Right now he had to take care of one of his boyfriends, hopefully this would give him the experience to help with the other two if the time ever arose. Army took a breath.

“You know, you can always let your negative emotions out if you have to. You don’t have to hide them from us. We already got two idiots that do that,” Army chuckled to himself, “What I’m saying is, Skull, if you quote on quote, fall, we’ll be there for you. We got you. _I_ got you, okay? You don’t have to put on this tough guy act in front of everyone all the time. Everyone needs a break every once in a while, and that includes you.”

It took a while, but after Army’s little reassurance speech, Skull was able to calm down a bit. Army had guided Skull to lay his head on his chest to get a position that made him feel better, petting the purple inkling’s head as the two listened to the rain. The blaze to hold the purple beast closer and kissed his head gently. The rain was starting to subside a bit, and the world was silent, aside from the regular noises of the night. Army yawned, deciding to take this opportunity to finally get to sleep.

“Skull?”

“...zzz…”

“Heh… goodnight, I love you…”

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I should go find something to eat (lowkey hope I get to eat cereal because ya boi got Reese's Puffs) then do math homework bleeehhh
> 
> Sorry I don't do rapid fire uploads like I used to, but being a junior SUCKS AS- also I got volunteer work since resumes are due for my school next month for internships.
> 
> Anyways, Stay Fresh Off the Hook everyone!


End file.
